Came Along
by FRENZDRIVE
Summary: A kiss on the cheek changes everything.
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note: Welcome! I'll be updating this weekly, or biweekly, depends on how much downtime I have at work. But nonetheless, enjoy, review or something, too. Thanks :)**_

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><p><strong>Came Along<strong>

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><p><span><strong>Chapter One<strong>

**Free Wine and Entertainment**

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><p>WORST. DATE. EVER." Emily Fields huffed as she slid into the booth with her best and favorite friends. Three pairs of eyes stared at her curiously, waiting for further elaboration, and, as Emily stripped of her wool coat and scarf, she explained. "First, she shows up over <em>forty <em>minutes late," A waitress passed, and Emily flagged her down.

"What can I get for you?" The waitress asked with a tired, forced smile. Emily tried to smile back, but she grimaced unintentionally. It had been a terrible night for her.

"Can I have a vodka and cranberry?" She requested quickly, and the waitress nodded, turning quickly on her heel and headed towards the bar. Emily redirected her focus back to her small group of friends, "So, she's late, and I didn't mind because traffic can get bad or whatever, but she _actually _tells me that she just overslept and forgot that we had a date tonight" Hanna was the first one to frown, but bit her tongue as Emily continued, "I mean, I should have saw the red flag right there, but I just… I don't even know. She took me to that one Mexican restaurant… the one right off…" Emily snapped her fingers a few time, a habit when she tried to remember something in particular.

"By the old high school?" Spencer offered, nursing on her drink.

Emily nodded, "Yeah, that one"

"I thought that place got shut down" Aria commented. Truthfully, the restaurant had been shut down a few times, and _everyone _knew this. Well, almost everyone.

"It did, but it's open again, and she insisted that we have dinner there," The waitress returned with Emily's magenta colored drink, and Emily smiled – finally, something to take the edge off, "Thank you" She appreciated the waitress, grasping the drink in her hands and taking a large sip, "god, that's good. So, anyways, we're there, and it's still as awful as before," She took another sip, "She insists on ordering for her and I… and she orders this… ugh… I don't know what it was, there was a lot of chili and ground beef… some cheese… it was all too greasy. I didn't eat any of it, but she was woofing it down like she hadn't eaten in days…"

Hanna felt sympathetic for her best friend, "Please tell me that this story is coming to an end soon" She groaned

Emily was already halfway through her drink. She was probably in need of ordering another one soon. "Oh yes, it is. She ate through most of it, and then she stopped – ran to the bathroom" Emily was frowning, "Twenty minutes later, she's telling me that food was giving her… well, stomach issues, and that she needed to bail… and just happened to leave her wallet at home, too"

"She made you pay for it?" Hanna asked incredulously, "That's bullshit"

"Tell me about it" Emily sighed, "I'm going to be single forever" She moaned, "Is it really that hard to just find someone? I mean, I'm going to be thirty years old in less than two weeks, for crying out loud, and it's been – what – four years since my last relationship?" Empathetic eyes all around, and Emily hated that, "I'm not being picky," She relented, "I've even lowered my standards… but I think it's just me, I'm doomed"

Her friends gazed at each other, each of them trying to figure who would be best to reply to Emily's statement. Aria spoke first. "You're not doomed" She said as Spencer glanced at her, eyebrows raised as if she were asking 'that's all you got?', "There's tons of people out there for you, you just haven't found them yet…"

Emily shrugged, finishing off her drink. Yeah, she definitely needed another. "Right… or maybe it's just me, and they're all finding each other"

Aria was shot down. Spencer and Hanna looked at each other. Who would try next? Hanna shrugged, "Being single is great," She started, her voice light and full of optimism, "You can date whoever you want, come and go as you please"

"Advice from a married woman…" Emily murmured, and Hanna scoffed, "I'm sorry, guys, I'm such a downer about this" she sighed. Maybe it would be best if she skipped out on that second drink, "You know what, I'm just going to go home, get some sleep,"

"No, stay, Em!" Hanna protested, but she knew that it wouldn't be much to sway Emily's decision. "Well, fine," she huffed, as Emily slipped on her coat and wrapped her scarf securely around her neck, "Will you at least call when you get home?"

"Of course," Emily said. She fished in her coat pockets for spare cash

"This is on us," Spencer queued in, "We're not letting you pay for your drink after your night"

Emily gave a small smile, "Thanks guys. I'll call you when I get home" Their goodbyes were short and sweet as always, and Emily left the booth, walking out of the small restaurant in the chilly weather. November generally was one of Emily's favorite months – she loved the cold, dry air, the crimson leaves, and most certainly of the festive decorations for the holidays.

But she had spent most of her time alone. She wasn't desperate, that was one thing she knew for sure, though she didn't the mind the idea of having someone to talk to that wasn't among her friends or family – someone to cuddle with during the cold weather, spend her time with. But it didn't seem likely and she didn't know why. Emily was attractive, educated, hardworking, and she had so much love to give, yet no one worthy to give it to.

It was unfair - definitely unfair.

There was only a short distance of walking before Emily would make it to her small apartment complex, and she managed to make it there in fifteen minutes. As she walked up the first flight of stairs to her apartment, she heard a door open. The person jumped at the sight of Emily, "oh man, you scared me" She said with a smile and Emily stopped, returning the smile

"I didn't take you as the type of person who gets scared easily" Emily replied. She earned a scoff.

"Whatever" She said, rolling her eyes, "so, I'm going to take out my trash," She held up the small black garbage bag in her hands, that Emily didn't initially see, "Do you want to stay over for wine or something?"

"That kind of depends, Paige"

Paige raised her brows, "Oh really?"

"Do you still have that Brunello wine you let me try last week?"

She smirked, "Of course I do" Paige stepped into the hallway, leaving her apartment door open, "you can wait inside, if you want. And I already know that you know where I keep all of my wine, so you can pour yourself a glass while you wait, too"

Emily felt grateful, "Thank you"

Paige shrugged. It was the least she could do, "I'll be right back," she quickly headed down the stairs, leaving Emily to her apartment. Emily had been in Paige's apartment numerous times, especially since Emily had to pass by Paige's apartment to go to the next floor, where _her _apartment was technically located.

Emily personally loved Paige's apartment – it was smaller than her own, but tastefully and personally decorated. Emily appreciated the quality and the thoughtfulness of everything. She walked to Paige's kitchen, opening the fridge and taking out the half-full bottle of wine.

She reached for glasses in Paige's cabinet, just as Paige walked back into her apartment, "I just remembered… didn't you have something to do tonight?" Paige asked

"I had a date"

Paige uncorked the wine bottle. Emily held out the glasses as Paige poured the wine, "How did that go?"

"Terrible"

"yeah? I'm sorry to hear that. So, feel free to have as much wine as you want… have the rest of the bottle if you want"

Emily smiled. "Thanks" Paige languidly gulped her wine from her glass, "Were you going to do anything tonight?"

She shrugged, "No, not really. I was going to find some movie to watch on Netflix or something… and probably get some sleep in, too. Work has really been kicking my ass"

"Do you want me to leave?" Emily had asked, though she hoped that Paige would say no.

Luckily, Paige shook her head. "No way, you being here is probably going to be the highlight of my night"

"really?" Emily said out loud, which she had meant to think rather than say. She found it interesting that someone like Paige didn't have anything else to do. It was nothing against her character or what she discovered of her during the last few months of them living in the same apartment complex, but she thought of Paige as an attractive woman, who obviously could have anything or anyone that she pleased.

And, what surprised her was that Paige actually wanted Emily there to probably be the highlight of her night.

"Mm-hm" She remarked, "If you stay, I'll let you pick whatever movie that you want"

"any movie?"

"Should I be worried?"

Giving a sly smirk, "I don't know, should you?" 

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><p>"okay, your movie privileges have been officially revoked, Emily" Paige snatched the remote from Emily's grasp, "I thought that you said that you were good at picking movies,"<p>

"I never said that!"

"You could've at least told me that you were _awful _at picking movies!"

"You didn't ask!"

"I didn't think that I would have to!" She flicked through a few movie selections on the television screen, "You had to have picked all of the worst movies on here"

"All of the storylines sounded really good though, and you said that I could pick _any _movie"

"I should have clarified: any _decent _movie"

Emily scoffed, "It wasn't that bad"

Paige smiled. Of course, it wasn't that bad. In fact, Paige was completely enjoying herself, "No, it wasn't, but still…"

"Still what?"

"Awful selections"

Emily bumped Paige's shoulder with her own, "Lets see you pick a _better _one"

Completely transfixed on picking a good movie, Paige searched through the movies, "Oh I will, trust me"

A couple of minutes passed by in silence, and Emily smiled, seeing the struggle Paige was having trying to pick a movie, "Kind of difficult, isn't it?"

"No… there are a lot of movies… to pick from…"

"yeah, or maybe, you know, it's harder than you thought to pick a movie"

Paige exhaled exasperatedly, tossing the remote to the other side of couch "actually, I think it's pretty late"

"Oh?"

"I mean, for another movie," she quickly corrected, "I like spending time with you"

"So do I," Emily replied truthfully, "What would you like to do?"

Paige shrugged. She really hadn't thought too much of what they could do together, and she didn't quite know exactly how comfortable Emily felt around her. She had an idea, many ideas of their level of comfort around each other, but never accurately knew. "Want to talk about how your date went…?"

"No, not really," Emily said. The _last _thing she wanted to talk about was that, "It's not that I'm secretive or anything," She started to explain, "It's just that it was that kind of date that you would want to try to forget as soon as possible"

"That bad, huh?"

"Probably one of the worst dates I've ever been on"

"Yikes" Paige commented

"Yeah, but," Emily waved her hand nonchalantly, "It's fine. I got free wine and entertainment in the end"

"I'm glad that I could assist with that"

"Me too,"

They fell into silence; unvoiced questions lingering between the two of them. Emily stole a glance at Paige – as usual, she hardly wore any make up, and, with her hair pulled back into a ponytail, and Emily was able to see the angular features of her face. Paige was beautiful, and that was a fact that Emily had always known, but she was also fairly certain that Paige wasn't interested in her.

The trill of a phone ringing, interrupted the silence, and Emily recognized the ringtone of her phone. She quickly pulled her phone from the pocket of her jeans, looking at the caller ID, "Hello?" She answered

_"Are you okay? Are you home?" _

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine, I'm sorry that I forgot to call, Han"

_"Well, as long as you're all right"_

"And I am, I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

_"Well, don't forget"_

"I won't, I promise" She ended the call, and sighed, directing her attention back to Paige "I probably should head up now" She didn't want to though.

And neither did Paige, "Yeah. I'll walk you up"

"You don't have to"

"No, really it's fine, plus, you've had a few drinks with me, and I want to make sure that you get in safe"

Emily smiled, "You had a few drinks too," She pointed out, "How will you ever get back?"

As Emily stood and took her coat from the arm of the couch, Paige stood, "I'll be a-okay" Emily walked to the door, and opened it, with Paige following closely behind, closing the door when the two were in the vacant hallway. She took the stairs up to her floor, stopping at the last door to the left – her apartment.

"Well, you have safely delivered me to my door," Emily joked, gaining a small chuckle from Paige, "Thank you"

"It's no problem,"

Before either of them could register what was happening, Emily leaned in close, pressing her lips to the smooth skin of Paige's cheek. Maybe it was the alcohol that made her slightly bold, maybe the terribleness of her date, or even just the fact that Paige was attractive – but once when her brain caught up to her actions, and the unreadable expression on Paige's face, she flushed, quickly taking out her keys and turning around to unlock her door. "Thanks again, Paige" She said hastily, almost immediately disappearing into her apartment closing the door behind her, and leaving Paige by herself.

"What just happened…" She asked herself quietly, touching where Emily had kissed her, as if she had been branded. She smiled toothily.

And that was definitely and undoubtedly the highlight of her night.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Author's Note: It's another chapter! I would like to thank everyone for the support, so I hope that I don't disappoint. Anyways, here's the next installment. I rewrote this probably four or five times, all with different scenarios - I just hope that it's okay. Feel free to support and such, it's always welcomed and appreciated.**_

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><p><strong>Came Along<strong>

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><p><span><strong>Chapter Two<strong>

**Down with the Sickness**

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><p><em>Okay, this is so stupid, <em>Emily thought to herself as she stood outside of Paige's door with a cheap bottle of wine that she picked up from the grocery store on her way from work. She had successfully managed to avoid Paige for the past week by leaving her apartment super early in the mornings and returning at a later hour than usual. It wasn't something that she was proud of, especially since her actions mocked one that a teenager would do, and she was _definitely _not a teenager anymore. But she had felt embarrassed, though she couldn't exactly pinpoint why. Emily had kissed a great handful of people on the cheek before, some even on the lips – she had kissed friends, strangers, family… but when it came to Paige…

It was different.

She raised her hand, forming a fist, and rapped her knuckles against Paige's door. It felt like forever as she waited for an answer; she bounced nervously on her toes, and she tried again, knocking just a little louder than before. In the silence of the hallway, she heard light shuffling from inside Paige's apartment, then a few clicks of her locks.

"Emily" She greeted nasally, a tissue clutched in her hand, "Hey" She sniffled as her eyes took in Emily's appearance, "Are you just getting off work?" Paige's eyes looked at the bottle held tightly in Emily's grasp, "Is that Pinot?" She coughed, and then sniffled again.

Guilt immediately washed over Emily. Paige was obviously sick – her usual exultant exterior was substituted with dreariness. Emily looked at the wine in her hand, desperately wished that it were soup or something instead, "Uh, it is…"

Paige coughed a nasty cough, "God, I'm sorry, Emily" She said as she leaned her head against her door's frame, closing her eyes, "I've been fighting this cold" She wiped her nose with her tissue, "And I've been losing"

"Do you need anything?" Emily asked seriously, "I can get you whatever you want"

Opening her eyes to gaze at Emily, Paige gave a very small smile, "I could really use some company honestly, but I…" She coughed, "I wouldn't want to get you sick or anything"

Emily shook her head, "Don't worry about it, Paige" Getting sick wasn't something she necessarily cared about; she just wanted to be around Paige.

She looked skeptical, "Are you sure? Because if you get sick, you can't say that I didn't warn you"

"I'll take my chances" Paige opened her door widely as Emily stepped foot into Paige's dark apartment – only a small lamp acting as an illuminator. Emily noticed the few blankets on the couch, and the pile of tissues on the floor and coffee table – only assuming that Paige was mostly staying on her couch.

Paige closed the door, and flicked on the lights to the rest of her apartment, "Sorry about the mess," She rasped, "I wasn't expecting anyone to come over"

Emily shrugged, "It's okay, really"

Paige stumbled to the couch, plopping down on it lazily, and then curling up in the blankets, "You can put that wine in the refrigerator if you want to – I haven't touched anything in there, so it's germfree"

Emily only sat the bottle on the free surface on Paige's coffee table. She really wanted to talk to Paige about last week, but it seemed like a forgotten memory. She wouldn't push it.

She sat down on the small space of Paige's couch that wasn't occupied, which was by Paige's bare feet, "How long have you been sick?"

Paige rolled onto her back and stretched her legs, resting her feet in Emily's lap, "Almost four days" She replied, "I went to the hospital… two days ago… they gave me some medicine" She huffed, "I'm still sick, so I'm pretty sure that the medicine was useless"

"Maybe it's working slowly" Emily offered, earning another huff from Paige, "Or… not at all"

"Yeah, definitely not at all. It just makes me tired all the time" Paige whined, "I hate sleeping all the time"

Emily laughed, "You're complaining about sleeping?"

"This is not a laughing matter, Emily!"

"Right, right, this is serious… sleeping too much…"

"Oh, you're being sarcastic, very funny. I'm sick and you're being mean" Paige almost sounded like a child and Emily was really holding back the fit of giggles that threatened to burst, "I'm going to banish you from the apartment"

Emily rested her hand on Paige's calf, "I thought you wanted company"

Paige would be lying to herself if she denied that where Emily's hand felt completely relaxing, "I do… and I'm glad that you're here… despite you laughing at my serious matters"

"Well… I wouldn't want to be anywhere else, right now," Emily said honestly as the room fell silent.

"Emily?" Paige said after a few minutes

"Yeah?"

Paige appeared to be hesitant as she shifted her eyes between Emily and somewhere else, "Actually, never mind, it's nothing"

"Now, you have me curious"

Paige just shrugged, "I'm probably just making something out of nothing"

"Well, if you tell me… maybe we can see about that"

She smiled in response, "Maybe another time, Em. But, it's been a while since I've seen you… been on anymore dates?"

Emily wanted to know what was going on in Paige's head, but it was obvious that she wasn't getting in… yet, "My mom set me up on a date with one of her coworker's daughters"

"Yeah?" Paige mused, "How did that turn out?"

"She was a doctor…"

"A doctor?"

"Um… yeah… a doctorate in music"

Paige's lips formed an 'o', "Not a practicing doctor"

"Yeah, also, unemployed, with no interest in working" Emily added as she thought back to that train wreck of a date, "Also, about three-hundred thousand in debt… and shamelessly arrogant about everything" Emily sighed, she didn't want to think too much about that date, "She asked if I wanted to spend the night with her, and almost cried when I rejected her"

Paige laughed, though, it sounded like a collection of wheezes, "Like literally almost started crying?" Emily nodded slowly, "Oh my god, what a chump"

"She was kind of… sweet…"

"_Chuuuump_" Paige coughed, "But, hey, she was lucky"

"Oh yeah? How so?"

"She went out with you" Emily blushed, "So, I'd say she's pretty darn lucky"

"Way to boost my ego,"

"Glad it worked" Paige adjusted her feet in Emily lap; Emily had to stop herself from jumping out of her skin. "I think it's true though"

"about what?"

"These girls who go out with you… like… though some of them are terrible dates, I think that they're all really lucky, you know?" Paige let out a loud yawn, "You're pretty and sophisticated… and you have awesome taste in wine – not better than mine, but you're getting there…"

She smiled at the compliment, believing each word. "You're feeling threatened that I'll acquire a better taste than you, aren't you?"

"Terrified"

"Well, if I do, I'll share my secrets"

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><p>Hours had passed – it was a common thing that happened whenever Emily came to Paige's apartment. She would normally spend hours there, but neither of them minded. But at some point, they had fallen asleep. They adjusted their positions, so that Paige was resting her head in Emily's lap, and Emily laid a gentle hand across Paige's forehead. The comfortable position led them to sleep.<p>

At the crack of dawn, Paige stirred in Emily's lap, nuzzling her face against her stomach. Paige sighed contently, "Mm" Honestly, she had the best bout of sleep that she had for a very long time.

Paige looked up to find Emily's closed eyes and soft breathing. She looked content, beautiful. Despite Paige's current state of being sick, she was happy, and she had Emily there with her.

She knew the truth – The reason why Emily had avoided her. She wasn't oblivious, she knew that Emily had freaked out about last week. Paige should have followed up – she had kicked herself when she hadn't, and, when she fell sick, she really couldn't, so she kicked herself more.

Paige didn't know how to approach her, though, with the idea of dating. She felt as though she could give Emily everything and more, but, all in honesty, she wasn't sure if they could cross from being friends to lovers. She had tried it once before in a previous relationship, but ended up losing both a girlfriend and a best friend – and what she had with Emily was amazing.

But Paige smiled to herself, _definitely worth the risk. _

After a few minutes, she felt Emily awaken – slightly groaning as she lolled her head forward. Paige watched as the brunette slowly opened her eyes, confusion evident on her face before realization kicked in, "I stayed over," She said huskily and Paige nodded, "How are you feeling?"

"Like a million bucks" Paige responded, though her voice sounded thick, "I sound pretty gross"

"Not entirely… you're still technically sick, you know"

"I'm tired of being sick" Paige groaned, "I could do a lot if I weren't sick"

Emily rubbed her hand down Paige's cheek, "I bet you could Paige"

She closed her eyes to the sensation, "Mhm"

"I think that I'm going to head up to my apartment" She said, and Paige pouted, "Just to shower, and then I'll come back"

"But why?" She whined, "I think that you smell okay"

Emily chuckled, "No, Paige, I need a shower"

"And you look okay too" Paige added

"I'm still in my work clothes"

"And you're a really great pillow"

Emily sighed, but smiled, "Fine," She relented, "I'll stay for a little while longer"

"Mm… thanks, you're the best pillow out there" She sighed, "Did you sleep all right?"

Emily nodded, "Well, kind of, I haven't really slept upright for a very long time… but… well, it was nice, your couch is pretty comfortable"

"That's good to hear" Paige attempted to sit up. The weight of the world felt like it was pushing down on her as she fought against it, trying to get herself upright. She groaned, "Oh, my god, I feel so weak,"

"Let me help you," Emily offered, grasping Paige's shoulders and slightly pushing her upright, "There you go"

"Thanks," Paige huffed, "Do you want breakfast or something? I can still kind of cook"

"Paige, don't worry about it" She was smiling, "Just concentrate on getting better,"

"I am… I am… I mean, you're still my guest… and even if I am sick, it is my job to–" She coughed, and Emily gently patted her back, "Okay, maybe I should concentrate… on getting better"

"Yeah, as much as I like being around you, I do prefer it when you're healthy"

"I'm going to get better – the worst is over with"

"I hope so" Emily said, "But since I'm here, is there anything that I can do for you?"

Paige shook her head, "I'm okay"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, but I do think that you should go shower, I probably should too" She said, but she flushed, "I mean, separately"

"Having a Freudian slip there?" Emily teased

"Totally," She grinned, "But you should"

"Shower with you or shower separately"

"Uh" Paige coughed, "I… separately"

Emily smirked, "Well, all right" She stood, and Paige held out her hand, "What? Do you want to get up?"

"Stop treating me like a baby and help me up" Emily grasped Paige's hand and helped her to her feet, "I just wanted to walk you out" They made their way to the door, Paige opened the door and held it open for Emily, "Thank you for keeping me company, Emily"

"You're welcome. I hope you feel better"

"I will," She said, grinning, and, like Emily had previous did – Paige leaned forward, and pressed her lips to Emily's cheek, "I'm probably going to take that medicine, so I'll probably be asleep if you come back down, so don't worry about me"

Emily was stunned, "Um… okay"

"So, I'll see you around?"

She only nodded, not trusting her words, but she smiled.

So, Paige had remembered, and better yet, she probably felt the same way too. And that little tidbit of information had Emily feeling extremely giddy.


End file.
